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 Cllr Chris Naylor
Cllr Frank Dobson |
Tenants may have to give up second homes
Tough new property rules could affect Labour MP Dobbo
COUNCIL tenants who own second homes will be told to surrender one of their properties under tough new rules being drawn up at the Town Hall.
The policy could even affect Holborn and St Pancras MP Frank Dobson who is a council tenant in a mansion block in Bloomsbury but also owns a family house in his hometown of Dunnington, near York.
Yesterday (Wednesday) he was cheekily described as ‘Two-pads Dobson’ by Liberal Democrat councillor Chris Naylor, appointed as the Town Hall’s new housing chief last Wednesday.
Mr Dobson responded by joining calls for the policy to target property moguls who abuse the system by holding onto their council flats while buying up other homes in London – and not tenants with valid reasons for extra properties.
He said: “I could understand that this change would be reasonable if somebody was a council tenant, worked in London and then bought a place in Camden or Islington or Westminster and kept their tenancy. Otherwise it seems strange. If somebody had a home in Scotland but worked in London it would seem bizarre. It would seem odd if you would then be penalised.”
Many tenants leaders are sympathetic to Mr Dobson’s position and have called on the new Lib Dem and Tory administration to water down the changes.
Brian Pordage, chairman of the Camden Federation of Tenants and Residents Associations, owns a second home in South Uist in the Outer Hebrides.
It was inherited by his wife several years ago.
He said: “I think it is a cheek that the council would tell somebody that they can’t have a second home like this. It is means testing for council tenants. We don’t make any money out of it. We don’t rent it out and I couldn’t commute to work from it. There are a lot of changes that have been suggested, some are more draconian than others.”
If the new proposals are approved by council chiefs, ownership of a second home would become a breach of tenancy conditions. The ultimate punishment could even be eviction. Holiday homes and properties inherited only recently would probably be exempt. Housing chiefs insist that the measures are needed because they are struggling to get on top of the desperate waiting list for homes.
Alan Walter, a tenants leader in Kentish Town, said: “People should not be making money from a second home.
“But you have to get away from the idea that only people with absolutely nothing are entitled to council housing. I think everybody should be entitled to council housing like they are entitled to the National Health Service.
“We should have good public services. There are housing associations that put the rent up if you are employed – that can’t be right.”
The changes are currently being discussed by tenants groups and will come back before council bosses for a final decision later this summer. But last night (Wednesday) Cllr Naylor hinted he supported a clampdown on second home ownership.
He said: “I was surprised to discover that under Labour it was okay to have a second home and still get a council flat – unless a special exemption was made for the sake of Frank or should it be ‘Two-pads Dobson’. We need to target our help where it is needed most and people with two homes are not on the top of the priority list for the Liberal Democrats.” |
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